Weezer is a band known for three things. An infamous fanbase, the “Blue Album”, and their falloff. The fanbase being bad is really just a stereotype, and truthfully there isn’t too much to say about it. However, the other 2 points are far more interesting. They’ve made a total of 15 albums since their debut in 1994, an impressive amount of time to be making music. However, despite that time, there are many people who all say the same thing: Weezer hasn’t been good since the Blue Album.

Now, before getting into Weezer’s falloff, we need to get into the aforementioned Blue Album. While the album’s actual name is simply Weezer, the background is blue, and thus the name. Even if you think you haven’t heard Weezer before, you almost certainly have, and it was almost certainly a song off the Blue Album. The Sweater Song, Buddy Holly, My Name is Jonas, and Say it Ain’t So are the big ones. These songs- and some others off other albums- were, and still are, played on radio stations or in stores all the time. The success upon the album’s initial release was massive. In just 7 months, it hit platinum, a massive feat for a debut album. It was praised by listeners and critics, and seemed to line up Weezer for another smash hit, creating another massive rock band in the same way that bands like Nirvana blew up. However, this would not be the case. 

And now we get to the falloff. And depending on who you ask, it starts here, at their second album, Pinkerton. The Blue Album was a radio-friendly, upbeat rock album that was clearly professional, to the point that they were sometimes called industry plants at the time. Pinkerton was perhaps the opposite. The lyrics were incredibly emotional, an incredibly honest look into the worst or lowest parts of the life of Rivers Cuomo, the front man of Weezer. It sounded almost grating to the ears at times, with the first song especially being criticized for him essentially wailing. Any praise that Weezer received for the Blue Album was stripped away, the album critically trashed, and many wrote off Weezer without ever looking back.

However, the people that stayed actually found great appreciation in Pinkerton. Today, it’s often considered their best work by fans. However, with how poorly received the album was at launch, it scared Weezer into staying away from anything too emotional, an attitude that negatively affected the next half dozen albums. And this is another interesting thing to note about Weezer. By trying to gain back critical success, they stayed away from more honest songs and went more into pop territory. However, by doing that, they lost support from fans, and eventually even critics. This all culminated in the 2009 album Raditude, the worst Weezer album. That’s not just my opinion, I’d go as far to say that it would be hard to find someone who picked any other Weezer album for the title of worst. No critical praise was given, fans had almost given up after 3 straight disappointments, and it seemed Weezer was done.

Now, these days Weezer has found a sort of third wave of success. Their new project of SZNZ was relatively well received, even if not exactly noteworthy. OK Human, released in 2021 is often considered one of their best albums, finally bringing another purely emotional album that fans had fought for since Pinkerton. But more than that, people are going back to older Weezer albums too, and people are even finding more appreciation for the initially poorly received albums, such as Make Believe or Maladroit. However, even with a new wave of appreciation, one thing is still true: Weezer will never be back at their old heights. This is why I feel they have such an unfortunate story, because even now, when OK Human saw praise from critics, fans, and casual listeners alike, Weezer is doomed to chase their old success. Even if, at times, that hunger for fame hurts them.